CAMELOT FANTASIES

I once found a beautiful book in an antique store, 'Complete Love Lyrics' by Laurence Hope.  I shall share some of my favourites:-

Surf Song
by Laurence Hope

My little one, come and listen
To the calling of the sea,
And watch how the wet sands glisten
Where the surf has left them free.
As thou and the wind together
Shall frolic along the strand;
Thy feet as light as a feather
Will hardly dent the sand.
Unwind the veils that enfold thee,
Thou never wast shy with me;
The sea will rejoice to hold thee,
The stars will delight to see.
The beauty thou shalt discover,
Oh, Morning Star of my heart,
Will dazzle even thy lover
Who knows how fair thou art!

The Clod and the Pebble




 by William Blake (1757-1827)



 Love seeketh not Itself to please,
 Nor for itself hath any care;
 But for another gives its ease,
 And builds a Heaven in Hells despair.

 So sang a little Clod of Clay,
 Trodden with the cattle's feet;
 But a Pebble of the brook,
 Warbled out these metres meet.

 Love seeketh only Self to please,

 To bind another to Its delight:
 Joys in anothers loss of ease,
 And builds a Hell in Heavens despite.

Worth While
By Laurence Hope

I asked of my desolate shipwrecked soul
"wouldst thou rather never have met
The one whom thou lovedst beyond control
And whom thou adorest yet?"
Back from the senses, the heart, the brain
Came the answer swiftly thrown,
"What matter the price, we would pay it again,
We have had, we have loved, we have known!"

Lovely!  Sad to lose him!

Reminiscence of Maeterlinkck's
'Life of a bee'
By Laurence Hope

Oh, for the death of a beautiful purple bee;
Sailing away to the blue of a limpid sky;
To have yielded up one's life in an  ecstasy,
And then, in the very climax of love, to die!

To give oneself completely, once and forever;
Drink life at its utmost height as one lays it down;
Spend one's soul in the rush of one last Endeavour;
And rule supremely in laying aside the crown.

fabulous.

Words for My Lady



 I knew this day would eventually come
 When I'd want to say these words to you
 And it's with these words I hold in my heart
 That I now feel I need to renew
 I've thought about what I want to say
 And was waiting for when the time was right
 To say exactly what's on my mind
 While you're sitting here with me tonight

 I know I get caught up in my own little world
 And sometimes I tend to forget
 The true meaning of those little words
 Which entered my heart the day we first met
 If you'll move just a little bit closer
 I'll describe the moment when this all began
 When I knew you'd be my special lady
 And I would be your lucky man

 It was an evening in time when I held you close
 As we listened to the falling rain
 Sitting in front of a warm flickering fire
 Sharing our dreams with a glass of champagne
 Somehow, I never could have imagined
 Spending an evening like that with you
 As we talked between the falling raindrops
 And expressing our points of view

 With my arms wrapped around you
 I thought about how hard it would be to let you go
 Then you turned around and kissed me
 Only then at that moment did I really know
 We fell in love on that special night
 But I couldn't find the words to say
 As you were the only one in my life
 Who has ever made me feel that way

 When I looked deep into your eyes
 And then I took your hand
 I knew that all I ever needed
 Was to love and to hold you all that I can
 You became a part of my little world
 And knew that I could never let you go
 Because your love meant so much to me
 More than you could possibly ever know

 After all these years of being together
 I needed to say how much I still care
 And the only thing I ever wished for
 Was that you would always be there
 You will always be my special lady
 And I love you so very much
 I'd be lost in my little world without you
 To share your love and your touch

 With you by my side and a fire to keep us warm
 We'll always welcome the falling rain
 When we're holding each other and never letting go
 As we fall in love all over again
 The words in my heart still mean the same
 After all these years of being with you
 And the best part of all was knowing
 That my very special lady still loves me too

 - Ken Ross -

The Passionate Shepherd to His Love





Come live with me and be my love,
And we will all the pleasures prove,
That valleys, groves, hills and fields,
Woods or steepy mountains yields.

And we will sit upon the rocks,
Seeing the shepherds feed their flocks
By shallow rivers, to whose falls
Melodious birds sing madrigals.

And I will make thee beds of roses,
And a thousand fragrant posies,
A cap of flowers and a kirtle
Embroidered all with leaves of myrtle;

A gown made of the finest wool,
Which from our pretty lambs we pull;
Fair-lined slippers for the cold,
With buckles of the purest gold;

A belt of straw and ivy buds,
With coral clasps and amber studs;
And if these pleasures may thee move,
Come live with me and be my love.

The shepherd swains shall dance and sing
For thy delight each May morning;
If these delights thy mind may move,
Then live with me and be my love.


- Christopher Marlowe

Someone once read this to me and I will never forget.  I so love that Sir Walter Raleigh wrote a response, it reminds me of a couple of 'response' poems I may share!

“Oh Fairest of the Rural Maids”
By William Cullen Bryant 1794–1878

Oh fairest of the rural maids!
Thy birth was in the forest shades;
Green boughs, and glimpses of the sky,
Were all that met thine infant eye.

Thy sports, thy wanderings, when a child,
Were even in the sylvan wild;
And all the beauty of the place
Is in thy heart and on thy face.

The twilight of the trees and rocks
Is in the light shade of thy locks;
Thy step is as the wind, that weaves
Its playful way among the leaves.

Thine eyes are springs, in whose serene
And silent waters heaven is seen;
Their lashes are the herbs that look
On their young figures in the brook.

The forest depths, by foot unpressed,
Are not more sinless than thy breast;
The holy peace, that fills the air
Of those calm solitudes, is there.